LIBRARY OF C0N6RES& 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE CHRIST; 



WHO AND Vv^HAT IS IT ? 



OB, SOME OF THE 



Spiritualism and Mediumship of the Bible 
Compared With That of To-day. 




BT liOSDS HTTLli, 

\UTHOR OF "THE QUESTION SETTLED," "THE CONTRAST BETWEEN 
EVANGELICALISM AND SPIRITUALISM," "WHICH, SPIRITUALISM OR 
CHRISTIANITY ? " "YOUR ANSWEB OB YOUB LIFE," "THE 
IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT, OR THE BATTLE BETWEEN 
RICH ROBBERS AND POOR PRODUCERS," "THE 
DECAY OF INSTITUTIONS," AND OTHER 
WORKS ON SPIRITUALISM AND GEN- 
ERAL REFORM. /^\ 




What think ye of Christ?"— JESUS. 



CHICAGO : 

MOSES HULL & CO. 
675 West Lake St. 



£* 






Entered, According to the Act of Congress, in the year 1889, 

By MOSES HULL, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE. 



No. mere cacoethes scribendi has induced the au- 
thor of the following pages to take up his pen at 
the present time. Indeed, he has been importuned 
for years by those who know the bent of his mind, 
to bring out a series of just such works as this. 
By writing "Question Settled," and "The Contrast,'* 
he, for a time, partially settled the clamor; but his 
friends thought there must be more where these 
two volumes came from, and demanded it. 

The author of this pamphlet is fully convinced 
that Spiritualists generally have ignored the Bible 
too much. Many have sought to take the Bible 
from the churches and spike it. In the following 
pages the Bible, by being proven to be a spiritual 
book, is not spiked, but is turned against those who- 



IV PREFACE. 



supposed that to them belonged the exclusive priv- 
ilege of interpreting that volume. 

When the Bible is interpreted aright, those who, 
without knowing but little of its contents, have wor- 
shiped the book and looked with suspicion on every 
innovation, may be led to look more favorably on 
Spiritualism: and at the same time, Spiritualists 
may be induced to pay some attention to that great 
store-house of Spiritual Truths. 

With the hope that this little pamphlet may be 
the means of opening many pairs of eyes, I send 
it out on this, the forty-second natal day of Spirit- 
ualism. 

Moses Hull. 
Chicago. III., ) 

March 31. 1889. [ 



THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 
AND OF TO-DAY. 



"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; 
and that which is donf is that which shall be done; and 
there is no new thing under the sun." Eccl. i:9. 

The Bible contains no truth more self-evident 
than this; so long as conditions remain unchanged, 
each succeeding age must produce the manifesta- 
tions of every former age. If miracles occurred in 
the past they must occur to-day; if we have partic- 
ular manifestations of spirit power to-day, the same 
conditions which produce them now must have pro- 
duced them in past ages. 

Medinmship is not confined to a particular race, 
age or dispensation; it is based on the natural sus- 
ceptibility of man to come en rapport with the 
world of spirit. By this I mean that mediumship 
is natural, not supernatural. I do not mean that 
all men and all women are alike mediums, more 



o 



th-ic MKniUMsnrp of the tub:/: 



than all are alike orators or poets; what I do affirm 
is, tliat the gift belono-s alike to all ages and nations 
of the world. Paul said: 

"But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every 
man to profit withal." 1 Cor. xii:7. 

Who has not asked spirits and mediums the ques- 
tion, "Am la medium?" or, "What kind of a me- 
dium would I make?" The first of these questions 
is always answered in the affirmative; but when the 

second question is asked the answers are various, 
and sometimes thought to be contradictory. Why is 
this? Let me answer: 

1. All are mediums: "The spirit is given to 
every man/' One of old said: 

"But there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of 
the Almighty giveth them understanding." Job xxx:8. 

Every member of the human family, whether 
he knows it or not, is a spiritual being; spirit 
blends with spirit, therefore every one has within 
himself or herself the possibilities, though latent, 
they may be, of coming in contact with the world of 
spirit. That is medium ship, and, in that sense, 
every one is a medium. 

2. I have often been asked, "Why do I get so 
many contradictory answers as to the phase of my 
mediumship?" Before I answer permit me toa.sk: 
Are you sure these answers are contradictory ? May 
it not be that those who answer your queries, view 



AND OF TO-DAY. / 

the matter from different standpoints? Supposing 
four of your neighbors were to pass to the other side 
of life within the next month; one is a minister, 
another a doctor, another an artist and another an 
author; it is possible that these four may all feel 
that they have left their work unfinished ; they may 
each of them have a desire to return and continue 
their business. Now suppose these four all come 
to the same circle, and you ask each of them wheth- 
er you could be a medium; the answer would prob- 
ably in each instance be, "Yes." Then ask each of 
them what kind of a medium you would make, and 
probably each would view your organism from his 
particular point of view. One would tell you you 
would make an inspirational speaker, or a trance 
medium; another, that you would make a healer or 
a "medicine man." Another might see in you the 
elements of an artist, and still another that he 
could develop you as a writing medium. 

There is no contradiction in all these answers; 
the probability is that there is that within you that 
could be developed in any of these directions. 

THEN AND NOW. 

My subject leads me to a comparison of biblical 
and modern mediumship, and I must premise that 
on this subject the world has very generallv made 
two very grave mistakes. One is, it has made more 



O THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

of biblical medio ins than the case would warrant, 
and the other is, it has very generally discounted 
that which has occurred within its immediate pur- 
view. This is not peculiar to Spiritualism; men 
have always done it; the mountains in the distance 
are indeed 



'the beautiful hills, 



Which the blest have trod," 
but when one reaches these same "beautiful hills, 
he finds them covered with thorns and briers, crag- 
gy rocks and deep ravines; so when we look back 
upon the manifestations of past ages we regard them 
as wonderful, whereas, if they occurred here, or if 
we had been where they did occur we probably would 
have joined with the multitude that witnessed them, 
in saying: 

"What sign showest thou then, that we may see and 
believe thee ? What dost thou work ?" Jno. vi :30. 

These people could see nothing in Jesus or his 
work. The people now viewing his work from a 
distance of nearly nineteen centuries have no trouble 
in seeing enough in Jesus' works to prove him a 
God. Those same people who could see nothing in 
Jesus, could look back through fifteen hundred years 
to Moses, and could see plainly that he was a divine- 
ly commissioned leader. Hear them talk of what 
their fathers enjoyed. The next verse after the one 
just quoted says: 



AND OF TO-DAY. 9 

"Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is writ- 
ten: He gave them bread from heaven." 

This the Jews of Jesus 1 day, could plainly see. but 

when we go back to those halcyon days when they 

enjoyed the "bread from heaven," we hear those 

who ate it, say: 

"Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt 
to die in the wilderness ; for there is no bread, neither is 
there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread." 

In Jesus' day, the old, staid church-members re- 
viled those who witnessed his manifestations, and 
said: 

"Thou art his disciples; but we are Moses' disciples. 
We know that God spake with Moses ; as for this fel- 
low, we know not from whence he is." — Jno ix:28,29. 

This is enough, it proves our point — that is, that 
people are more apt to see these things at a distance 
than when they occur in their midst. 

We new take the position, that if Jesus was not 
the hero of some Spiritualistic author, he was 

ONLY A MEDIUM. 

Of this the proofs are abundant and will appear 
as I proceed. Suffice it for the present, to quote 
Paul, who says: 

"For there is one God, and one mediator between 
God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. 1 Tim. 11 :5. 

The word rendered mediator in this instance, is 
the Greek word mesitees. The definition of that 
word is medium. Greenfield defines the w T ord to 



10 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

mean a "medium of communication between God 
and man." 



"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight- 
way out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened 
unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like 
a dove and lighting upon him; and, lo, a voice from 
heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased." Matt. m:16. 

This text is frequently read wrong, and I believe 
always interpreted wrong. It is always made to 
imply that somehow if you had been there you would 
have seen a ghost, in the shape of a bird, light up- 
on Jesus, and you •would have heard a voice calling 
Jesus the Son of. God. Neither is true; the heav- 
ens were not opened to the multitude. Head the 
text once more: "And the heavens were opened unto 
him" — not to the multitude. Again: "And he 
saw the spirit of God descending." The multitude 
did not see a spirit descending; Jesus alone saw it. 
Once more, I have heard it said the spirit descended 
"in a bodily shape like a dove." Even Luke indi- 
cates as much. Does anyone believe that "spirits 
are shaped like doves? If so, God may be a big 
bird instead of an overgrown man! May it not be 
that the descent was like the descent of a dove, in- 
stead of the spirit being shaped like a dove? Why 
should spirits be more likely to be shaped like 
doves than like geese, owls, cranes or buzzards? 



AND OF TO-DAY. 11 

If this is the meaning of the text, which I do not 
believe, why not call it a materialization, such as 
we hear of in Modern Spiritualism? I know me- 
diums. Mrs. Thayer-Goodsell, for instance, who fre- 
quently lias doves descend and light upon persons 
in her seances. 

Once more: "This is my beloved Son." Who 
is whose son? The voice does not say Jesus is my 
beloved son, or he is my beloved son. The term 
this applies to the power here recognized "as the 
holy spirit. Son, is simply an idiom, and signifies 
a kind of affinity or spiritual connection, as, "Sons 
of Thunder," "Sons of Belial, ""Ye are of your fath- 
er, the devil," "Children of this world," etc. In- 
deed, the word rendered children in the above, is 
the plural of the same singular noun rendered son 
in Matt. iii:17. 

1IOAV JESUS BECAME A CHRIST. 

Peter, at the house of Cornelius, in Acts x:38, 
throws some light on this question. He says: 

"God anointed [Christened, or Christ-ed — that is, made 
a Christ of] Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and 
with power ; who went about doing good and healing 
all that were oppressed with the devil ; for God was 
with him." 

This anointing or making a Christ of Jesus took 
place at the baptism of John. Here let it be re- 
marked that baptism was always administered for 



12 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

the purpose of spiritual development — never for 
any other purpose. 

OTHER CHRISTS. 

All may be Christs or mediums, on exactly the 
same terms as Jesus was. John says: 

"But the anointing [Christing] which ye have received 
of him abideth in you. and you need not that any man 
teach you ; but the same anointing teacheth you of all 
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath 
taught you, ye shall abide in him." [Abide in it. — Mar- 
gin.] 

Here the same anointing or Christina; which 
came to Jesus, and which many good Christians 
think made him a God, comes to others and does 
precisely the same work for them that it did for him. 

No one can deny that this anointing or Christ- 
ing is mediumship. See what it does. "It abid- 
eth in you." "Ye need not that any man teach 
you." "The same anointing teacheth you," and 
you are instructed to "abide in him." The margin 
reads "abide in it," that is, in Christ — in the anoint- 
ing, — in mediumship. Probably the old idea that 
Christ was a person caused the translators to make 
the mistake of making the text read "abide in him." 

We have hot the space to spare to go all through 
the Bible and show that the term Christ generally 
refers to a power conferred upon Jesus and others. 
In many instances we read of Jesus the Christ, 
which means no more or less than Jesus the me- 



AND OF TO-PAY 



13 



dium. The term Messiah or Messias, used several 
times in the New Testament, means the same 
thing. 

WHAT OF THE OPPOSITION? 

Not only was the Spiritualism and the medium - 
ship of the Bible the same as that of to-day, as it 
is my intention to prove, but the opposition to 
Spiritualism is the same as the opposition was then. 

Paul said : 

"Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Ivloses, so 
do these also resist the truth." 2 Tim. iii:8. 

How did these men resist the truth? Simply 
by trying to palm off duplications of the manifesta- 
tions through Moses. When Moses gave a mani- 
festation, the record says: 

"Jannes and Jambres also did in like manner with 
their enchantments." Ex. vn:ll. 

The opposition proved to their own satisfaction 
that Jesus was a humbug. They tested him on 
several occasions. To try his clairvoyance, after 
they arrested him they blindfolded him, then slip- 
ped up behind him and smote him, saying: 

"Prophesy unto us who it was that smote thee." 
Luke xxii :64. 

Jesus- clairvoyant powers did not stand the test 
proposed by these religions skeptics, and he passed 
among them as a humbug. Even after Jesus was 



14: THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

on the cross the mocking priests proposed to be- 
lieve, on certain conditions. Their language was: 

"He saved others ; [pretended to save others,] him" 
self, he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, le 
him now come down from the cross, and we will be- 
lieve him." Matt, xxvii :42. 

The above was the voice of the priests. The 
common people wagged, their beads and said: 

"Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in 
three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, 
come down from the cross." Yerse 40. 

The Jews were always demanding the thing to 
be clone here and now. Jesus, in the very begin- 
ning of his ministry, said : 

"Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, 
heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Ca- 
pernium, do also here in thy country." Luke iv:23. 

The works these fellows demanded were not done 
to gratify a bevy of curiosity seekers, neither is it, 
nor should it be attempted now. 

FALSE MEDIUMS AND FALSE APOSTLES. 

Of course there are false mediums to-day ; the world 
is filled with mercenary pretenders who will take 
up anything for the sake of brief notoriety or mon- 
ey, but was it not always so? Paul, in 2 Cor. xi:13, 
warns his brethren against "false apostles," and 
"deceitful workers," or tricksters who used "the liv- 
ery of heaven to serve the devil in." The trouble 
with the world is, that it does not think. With 



AND OF TO-DAY. 15 

many Spiritualists and anti-Spiritualists, these pre- 
tenders to inediumship are mediums, and thus Spir- 
itualism is, by them, thrown into bad repute. 

JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS. 

My readers may uot have looked at this matter, 
but if they will investigate they will lind a won- 
derful similarity in the reputed miracles done by 
Jesus eighteen hundred years ago and the manifes- 
tations' through mediums to-day. As an illustra- 
tion, take the resuscitation of the Ruler's daughter. 

Luke says : 

"And when he [Jesus] came into the house, he suf- 
fered no man to go in save Peter and James and John 
and the father and mother of the maiden. And all 
wept and bewailed her; but he said, Weep not; she is 
not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to 
scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them 
all out and took her by the hand and called, saying, 
Maid, arise; and her spirit came again and she arose 
straightway." 

From the foregoing, it appears that Jesus' mani- 
festations of power were not for the public. Why 
was not this motley crew of unbelievers and blas- 
phemers permitted to behold this manifestation? 
Why was he so secret with his miracles? Only 
Peter, James aud John and the girl's parents were 
admitted. Why? Only one answer can be given. 
The reason probably is, -Because, in order to make a 
success of this manifestation they must have a har- 
monious circle. Had this rabble of curiosity seek- 



16 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

ers been admitted, their influence — their magrie- 
tism would have prevented the manifestation. 

The same may be said of the deaf man. The 
record is in Mark vn:32-34, and is as follows: 

"And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and 
had an impediment in his speech and they beseech him 
to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside 
from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears 
and he spit, and touched his tongue. And looking up 
to heaven he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, 
that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were 
opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and 
he spake plain." 

Does not this look much more like many of the 
cases of healing in modern times than it does like 
a miracle wrought by one of the Gods, or by a 
son of one of the Gods ? 

Jesus takes this man away from the multitude. 
Evidently this is done so that he could have more 
power over his infirmities than he could have where 
he had all the uncongeniality of their magnetisms 
to overcome. Ao-ain, Jesus uses means; he uses 
saliva and the magnetism imparted from his An- 
gers. Why did Jesus do this? Probably because it 
was among the necessary conditions of accomplish- 
ing his work. Surely a God — the third person in 
the trinity, does not require such conditions as 
these for miracles! If Jesus was only a medium 
then it would naturally be e'xpected that he would 
require the same conditions as are required in sim- 
ilar modern manifestations. 



AND OF TO-DAY. 17 

The blind man who had his eyes opened, is an- 
other case in point. It reads as follows - : 

"And he took the blind man by the hand, and led 
him out of the town, and when he had spit on his eyes, 
and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw 
aught. And he looked up and said, I see men as trees 
walking. After that he put his hands again upon his 
eyes and made him look up; and he was restored, and 
saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his 
house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to 
any in the town." Mark viii :23-26. 

John ix:6, instead of saying "he spit on his eyes," 



"He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, 
and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the 
clay." 

From this it seems that Jesus was simply a 
"medicine man," using such remedies as occurred 
to him. Whether it was the magnetism, the clay 
or the spittle, or whether it was all three combined 
that accomplished this cure, we are not informed. 

The points that clearly appear are : 

1. Jesus found it necessary to take this man out 
of the town — away from the crowd, in order to heal 
him. 

2. He used means, magnetism, spittle and clay. 

3. He tried twice before he accomplished the 
cure, and 

4. He charged the man to go to his house, not 
to return to the town nor tell anyone, but to go 
quietly to his own house. 



18 THE MEDIUMSH1P OF THE BIBLE 

Why this charge? I can see no reason except 
that the agitation caused by this wonderful cure 
would create a discussion of the question that would 
bring him en rapport with the magnetism of the 
people and cause him to lose what he had gained. 

WON'T LET US SEE. 

A common objection urged against Spiritualism 
is, that much of it is done in the dark, or in a cab- 
inet, or under a table. All this is proof to the 
average skeptic, u as strong as holy writ" that it is 
trickery. One minister, who shall be nameless 
here, even urged that the writing should come ? 
not between two closed slates, even when the slates 
were held by himself, but they must come on top 
of the slate in broad daylight, and that with him- 
self and a half dozen of others equally determin- 
ed not-to-be-convinced-persons looking at it. He 
knew exactly what he was about and would accept 
nothing less than his own kind of manifestations, 
under his own conditions and on his own terms. 
As I heard this I thought priests had not improv- 
ed much in point of consistency since they said, 
"Let him come down from the cross and we will be- 
lieve." How much of the Bible could this minis- 
ter accept if he demanded the same terms he now 
demands of mediums? 

At the burning of the bush; or rather, at the 



AND OF TO-DAY. 



m 



time Moses saw the spirit light in the bush, the 

angel said: 

"Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off 
thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy 
ground." Ex. iii:5. 

If Moses had been afflicted with the grabbing 
propensity, he probably would never have obtained 
the messages, through which Israel was finally 
rescued and saved. 

When Jesus appeared to the weeping Mary, he 

said: 

"Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my 
father." Jno., xx:17. 

Probably a majority of those who are opposed 
to dark circle manifestations, do not realize that 
the Ten Commandments were given in the dark, 
and probably spoken through a horn. In the first 
place the Lord came u in a thick cloud." See Ex. 
xix :9. 

This Lord was an angel, or a departed human 
spirit. See Acts viii:53, Gal. iii:19, Heb. ii:2. 

2. They were not permitted to so much as touch 
the mountain where the manifestations were given. 
The angel was determined there should be no op- 
portunity for grabbing there. The record is as 
follows: 

"And thou shalt stt bounds unto the people round 
about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not 
up into the mount, or touch the border of it. Whoso- 



20 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

ever toachefch the mount shall be surely put to death. 
There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall be surely 
stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it 
shall not live; when the trumpet soundeth long they 
shall come up to the mount." Ex. xix:ll-14 

Here they could only go up to the mount — the 
cabinet — as they were called up by the long sound- 
ing of the trumpet, so, in modern cabinet manifes- 
tations, the sitters forming the circle around the 
cabinet as the Hebrews did around the mount, only 
go up to the cabinet as they are invited. 

3. Under no circumstances must they "break 
through and gaze" or go up to the mount only as 
they were called one at a time by the long sound 
of a trumpet. Yerses 19-24 contain the following: 

"And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, 
and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God 
answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down 
upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and the 
Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and 
Moses went up, and the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, 
charge the people, lest they break through unto the 
Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. And let the 
priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify 
themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. And 
Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up 
to mount Sinai, for thou chargest us saying, Set bounds 
about the mount, and sanctify it. And the Lord spake 
unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come 
up, thou and Aaron with thee. But let not the priests 
and the people break through to come up to the Lord, 
lest he break forth upon them." 

4. The people obeyed these injunctions and 
kept themselves '-afar off," while Moses went into 



AND OF TO-DAY. 21 

the "thick darkness where God was." Ex. xx:18- 

20, says: 

"And all the people saw the thunderings and the 
lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the 
mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they re- 
moved and stood afar off, * * * and Moses drew near 
unto the thick darkness where God was." 

Every person in the habit of attending Spiritual 
seances, especially dark circles, can see that the 
above is simply a vivid description of a dark se- 
ance with its spirit-lights, voices and other et est- 
er as. 

One would hardly believe when he hears minis- 
ters objecting to dark circle manifestations and to 
seances in the night that the Bible was so full of 
such things as it is. On this subject it may not 
be amiss for me to occupy a little space. 

Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, in one of his periodical 
attacks of spirit-phobia, says: 

"Why did not Saul go in the day? He was ashamed 
to go. Besides that, he knew that this Spiritual medi- 
um, like all her successors, performed her exploits in 
the night. * * ' * The mediums of all ages have 
chosen the night, or a darkened room. Why? The 
majority of their wonders have been such swindles, 
and deceptions prosper best in the night." 

- 1 shall not here undertake to make a reply to 
this, it is unnecessary, but I might ask: Why did 
Nicodemus go to Jesus by night? Then I might 
answer: It is because he was ashame 1 to go in the 
day-time. 



22 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

The truth is, I do not believe that our best mani- 
festations, or a majority of the manifestations, oc- 
cur in the night. I do believe that in the night 
the elements are less agitated and therefore condi- 
tions are better for certain kinds of manifestations. 

But the reverend gentleman's objections against 
manifestations in the night weigh with all their 
force against the biblical manifestations. Those 
whose curiosity leads them to pursue this sub- 
ject farther might take, their Bibles and look up 
the following scriptures: 

I have before said, Nicodeinus went to Jesus by 
night. Jno. iii:2. 

It was in the night when the Lord appeared to 
Isaac. Gen. xxvi:24. 

Jacob's wrestle with the Lord was in the night. 

When the day began to break, the Lord begged 
like a good fellow for Jacob to let him go, "for," 
said he, "the day breaketh." Gen. xxxii:24-26. 

Was this because God and Jacob were, to use the 
classic of the Dr., "ashamed" to be seen together in 
the day-time? 

It was in the night that God made his great 
promise to Jacob, that he would make of him 
a great nation. Gen. xlvi:2. 

The manna— the "bread from heaven" always fell 
at night and the quails the Lord sent, were sent "at 
even." Ex. xvi:13. 



AND OF TO-DAY. 23 

Baalam's seance with God was in the night. 
Was it because either God or Baalam was "ashamed" 
to go to the seance in the day-time? Num. xxii:20. 

It was in the night when the miracles were 
wrought on Gideon's fleece. Judges vi :37-40. 

The wonderful manifestation by the angel of 
the Lord, of killing one hundred and eighty-five 
thousand Assyrian soldiers, occurred in the night. 
2. Kings, xx:35. 

It was in a night seance that God promised Sol- 
omon such extraordinary wisdom. 2 Chron. i:17. 

The miracle of parting the Red Sea and leading 
the people up out of Egypt was done in the night. 
Psalms lxxviii:14. 

A night vision gave Daniel his wonderful wis- 
dom. Dan. ii:19. 

A wise man in the book of Job thought man 
was more receptive at night than in the day-time — 
when asleep, than when awake. His language is: 

"For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man per- 
ceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, 
when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings up- 
on the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and 
sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man 
from his purpose, and hide pride from man." Job 
xxxiii :14-16. 

Those who object, as' Rev. Mr. Talmage does, to 
manifestations in the night, forget that Jesus' 
walk on the water was in the fourth watch of the 
night. Matt. xiv:25, Mark vi:48. 



24 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

Jesas prayed all night; was it because he was 
"ashamed" to pray in the day-time? Luke vi:12. 

Peter was delivered from the prison in the night. 
Acts xii:6. 

Paul held seances with the angels at night. 
Acts xxiii:ll, xxvii:23. 

I have before proved that the Ten Command- 
ments were given in the dark, I now assert that the 
Bible teaches that God dwells in the midst of 
thick darkness. See 1 Kings viii:12. 

THE HEBREWS WERE NOT PERMITTED TO EXAMINE THE 
CABINET. 

In 1 Samuel vi:19, is the history of their under- 
taking to examine the cabinet, and the result. It 

says: 

"And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they 
had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of 
the people fifty thousand and three score and ten men" 

That manifestations occurred in the dark in the 
presence of this ark is evident, from the fact that 
the Philistines put the ark in the temple of Dagon, 
their God, but every ■ morning when they went to 
the temple to worship they would find Dagon thrown 
down before it; and at last found his head and 
hands cut off by these invisible powers. The record 
of this may be found in 1 King v:l-4. 

The manifestations in the presence of the ark 
were so numerous and wonderful, and withal so 



AND OF TO-DAY. 25 

disastrous that the Philistines were more anxious 
to get rid of the ark than the man was for his 
neighbors to come and help him let go of the panther. 
They finally, as an act of eelf-defense, sent it to 
Israel. 

COVERED TABLES. 

Many mediums when they sit for slate-writing 
manifestations and others of a similar character, 
have the tables with which they are connected, cov- 
ered. I have even heard good Christians object to 
this; but the same thing is found in the Bible. 
Num. iv:5, says: 

"Aaron shall come and his sons, and they shall take 
down the covering vail, and cover the ark of the testi- 
mony with it." 

Terse 20 says: 

"But they shall not go in to see when the holy things 
are covered lest they die." 

Such declarations as the above show that they 
were quite as particular to have the best and most 
secret conditions for their manifestations in Bible 
times as now.. 

Some want everything done in public, "right 
out, where everybody can see it." In Elisha's day 
when he multiplied the widow's oil he took the 
widow and her sons and went into a private room 
and "shut the door," to prevent any other seeing 
the, manifestation. See 2 Kings iv:4. So when he 



26 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

he went into the room alone and shut the door "up- 
on the twain." 2 Kings iv:33. 

ONE MAN KILLED FOR BREAKING THE CONDITIONS. 

In 2 Sam. vi:6, is the history of the death of 
Uzzah, as follows: 

"And when they came to Nachan's threshing floor, 
Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God and took 
hold of it, for the oxen shook it, and the anger of the 
Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him 
there for his error; and there he died by the ark of 
God." 

This looks severe; Uzzah's intentions were good; 
the ark needed steadying. God must be capricious in- 
deed, to get mad and kill one of the very best of his 
very few T friends for a little thing like that. The fact 
is, God did not kill him; yet their knowledge of sci- 
ence, or rather, their want of knowledge, would 
cause them to. write in that way. The ark was 
probably heavily charged with electricity and Uz- 
zah, by touching it, received a shock from which 
he could not recover. 

I knew a man who, while fixing electric lights- 
in Des Moines, received a shock from which he fell 
over dead. Had that been in Bible times the story 
would have been, "The anger of the Lord was kin- 
dled against him and he died." 

OPEN AND SHUT-EYED TRANCES. 

Nearly all the trance mediums nowadays begin 
.resuscitated one of these sons, supposed to be' dead; 



ANTE) OF TO-DAY, 



27 



with their eyes closed; many of them begin to talk 
in a totally unconscious state; after awhile, little- 
by little, as they can bear it, they are made con- 
scious of what they are saying and doing, and at a 
later period their eyes are opened. So it was in 
Bible times. In Num. xxiv:3,4,we read: 

"Baalam the son of Beor, hath said, and the man 
whose eyes are open [had his eyes shut but now 
opened. — Margin] hath said. He hath said, which 
heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the 
Almighty, falling into a trance but having his eyes 
open, How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy 
tabernacles, O Israel." 

Daniel was both a test and trance medium; his 

^'visions" generally came when he was in what he 

called "a deep sleep." I call it a deep trance. In 
Dan. viii:18, he says: 

"Now as he [Gabriel] was speaking with me* I was 
in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground; but he 
touched me, and set me upright." 

In. Dan. x:9, he says: 

"And when I heard the voice of his words, then I 
was in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward 
the ground." 

Luke in giving an account of the transfiguration, 



"But Peter and they that were with him were heavy 
with sleep; and when they were awake, they saw his 
glory and the two men that were with him." Luke ix:32; 

While on the subject of trances., I will say I 
regard the Bible just- as I do Spiritualism ;. no 



28 



THE MEDIUMS HIP OF THE BIBLE 



more true, no more false. Its poems and psalms 
are inspirations. Much of its history is but the 
history of manifestations among the Jews. 

The book of Revelation is a case in point. It 
came from a departed spirit, -or rather, from a cir- 
cle of seven different spirits through an entranced 
medium, on the Island of Patmos. John says: 

"I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard be- 
hind me a great voice, as of a trumpet." Rev. i:10. 

That is, I was entranced, or, I was in a spiritual 
condition on the Lord's day. 

The writer of the Acts of the Apostles referred 
to the same thing when he said: 

"And he [Peter] became very hungry and would have 
eaten; but while they made ready he fell into a trance." 

Trances were once as common in the Church as 
they are now among Spiritualists; but alas! the 
glory of the Church has departed. 

In 2 Cor. xii:l,2, Paul, in coming 4 -to visions 
and revelations of the Lord," says: 

4k Iknew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, 
(whether in the body, I canuot tell, or whether out of the 
body, I cannot tell ; God knoweth) such an one caught 
up to the third heaven." 

This again means exactly what Spiritualists 
mean by enhancement. 

But to return to John, through whom the bock 
of Revelation came, in chapter iv, verse 2, he says: 



AND OF TO-DAY. 29 

*<I was in the spirit." In chapter xvii:3, he again 

says: 

"So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilder- 
ness." 

In chapter xxi:10, he says: 

"And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high 
mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy 
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." 

That this was a spiritual manifestation no one 
can doubt. John was carried away in spirit — not 
in body. The city he saw was a symbol; cities do 
not descend from heaven ready made; this, I be- 
lieve, is generally understood. 

Who the particular spirits were that entranced 
John and showed him so many wild and wierd 
symbols 1 do not know. There were seven of 
them, so John says several times. One was sup- 
posed to be Jesus of Nazareth. See Rev. i:l, 5, 
xxii:16. 

Seven times in one connection is the church ad- 
monished to hear what the spirit saith unto the 
churches. Many times the communicator is sim- 
ply called ; 'the spirit." Rev. xiv:12, xxii:17. 

Jesus is spoken of in the third person, and even 
called "our Lord," by the. communicating angel. 
See Rev. xi:8. 

One of the communicating spirits was probably 
Daniel, the prophet; this we recognize by the tests 
given, of beasts, heads, horns, etc. Another was 



'BO THE MEDlUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

probably Elijah, the prophet, and another John's 
brother. Several times John sees the communicat- 
ing spirits. Sometimes he is intromited into 
heaven and sees much more. In chapter xix he 
hears "much people in heaven" singing and shout- 
ing; again he hears the voice of u a great multitude/' 
He is so overcome with awe at the sight of these 
things that he wants to worship "at the feet of the 
angel," who showed them to him, but the angel 
claims not to be Jesus, but to be one who keeps 
the testimony of Jesus. He says. "I am thy fel- 
low servant, and of thy brethren that have the tes- 
timony of Jesus." Rev. xix:10. 
In chapter xxii:8, 9, John says: 

"And I John saw these things, and heard them. 
And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to wor- 
ship before the feet of the angel which showed me 
these things. Then , saith he unto me, See thou do it 
not, for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren 
the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of 
this book: Worship God." 

Here the term angel, fellow-servant, brethren 
and prophet, are all applied to the same individual. 
Thus it is established beyond a peradventure that 
the book of Revelation is nothing more or less than 
a series of communications coming from spirits ex- 
carnated to spirits incarnate. 

DID THEY WORK FOR MONEY? 

Mr Talmatre, in a discourse which he occasion- 



AND OF TO-DAY. 31 

ajly delivers against Spiritualism, objects to medi- 
ums working for money. Of course there is no 
harm in ministers or anybody else working for 
money except Spiritualist mediums, but as they re- 
ceive their gifts without money or price, so they 
should give their time and power to those who 
want them. It is, in the estimation of this man, 
nothing that two-thirds of those who want a medi- 
um's time want to consult the spirit-world as to 
some financial scheme, or to yoke the world of 
spirits to some gambling job they may have on 
hand. But 'twas ever thus; even the prophets ex- 
pected to have their palms crossed with silver. 

In 1 Sam. ix:6-20, is the account of Saul, the fut- 
ure king of Israel, going to Samuel, "the man of 
God — an honorable man," to find out what he could 
prognosticate for them, for "all that he saith sure- 
ly cometh to pass." "Now," said the servant of 
Saul, "let us go thither; peradventure he may 
show us our way that we should go." Saul object- 
ed to go to Samuel, the prophet, to have him show 
him where to find his father's asses, not on the 
ground that there was anything wrong in it, but 
because "the bread was spent in our vessels, and 
there is not a present to bring to the man of God, 
what have we?" The servant discovers they have 
pome silver, which was all-sufficient, and they go to 
Samuel, who gays, verse 20: 



32 THE MEDIDMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

"And as for thine asses, that were lost three days 
ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found." 

Micah, the prophet, said of Israel: 

"They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with 
iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and 
the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets di- 
vine for money; yet they will lean upon the Lord and 
say, Is not the Lord among us ? None evil can come 
upon us." Mich. iii:10 

The foregoing is proof that even the money con- 
dition of mediumship obtained among biblical me- 
diums, as well as among those of to-day. 

INSTRUMENTS USED BY ANCIENT MEDIUMS. 

Occasionally we find mediums who require a 
glass of water or something of the kind into which 
to look, in order to concentrate their minds so they 
can get what is needed. Such was probably the 
casein biblical times. They used 

THE DIVINING CUP. 

Gen. xliv:5. 

"Is not this it in which my Lord drmketh? and 
whereby indeed he divineth? Ye have done evil in so 
doing." 

In the same chapter, verse 15, we read: 

"And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that 
ye have done! wot ye not that such a man as I can cer- 
tainly divine ?" 

The circumstance of taking the cup need not be 

told here; I am only after the one point expressed 

in each of the above verses, that Joseph, the proph 



AND OF TO-DAY. 33 

et, the seer, the dreamer, the interpreter of dreams, 
the fortune-teller, used a divining cup. 

THE URIM. 

The Urim is used to-day by hundreds of mediums- 
It was nothing but a clear, colorless stone that the 
priest looked into until he was thrown into a trance 
or semi-trance state. The thummim was also a 
stone used for a similar purpose. 

A command to Moses was : 

"Thou shalt put into the breastplate the urim and 
the thummim." Ex. xxviii:30. 

The children of Israel when they wanted to hear 
God's opinions on any question consulted urim as 
regularly as mediums are con suited to-day. A 
writer says: 

"And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord ans- 
wered him not, neither by dreams, nor by urim nor by 
prophets." 1 Sam. xxviii:6. 

The above shows that they had as many ways of 
consulting "the Lord," in olden times as people 
have of consulting the spirits now. 



Joshua was developed by having mediumistic 
hands put on. his head, as thousands of mediums 
are to-day. The record says: 

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee, Joshua, 
the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, [that is, 
he was a natural medium and only needed developing] 

o 



34 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

and lay thine hands upon him. * * * And he shall 
stand before Eleazer the priest, and he [Eleazer] shall 
ask counsel for him after the judgment of urim before 
the Lord. At his word shall they go out, and at his 
word shall they come in, both he and the children of 
Israel." Num. xxvii:18. 

That Moses' putting his hands upon Joshua was 
for the purpose of Spiritual development, and that 
it accomplished that no one can doubt who has tak- 
en the pains to. examine the records. Pent, xxxiv: 
9, says: ' . .. . 

"And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the Spirit 
of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands on him; and 
the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as 
the Lord commanded Moses." 

THAT FLEECE. 

I have often heard persons say, If the. spirits 
want to talk to me I have no objections; indeed, I 
am willing to listen to them talk; no "peeping," 
no "muttering," no "table tipping," none of your 
slow processes. They can just as well talk right 
out as to go through all this nonsense. 

Possibly the objector may be correct. If so, his 
objections will weigh with all its force against Bi- 
ble methods. Messages of old, with the exception 
of the Ten Commandments, were never spoken out 
as people talk to each other here. In the case of 
the Ten Commandments they were required to 
spend "to-day and to-morrow" in preparation, "and 
be ready against the third day." 



AND OF TO-DAY. 35 

In the Pentecost, described in the Acts of the 
Apostles, there was a ten -day's preparation before 
"every man spoke as the spirit gave him utterance." 

The case of Gideon's fleece illustrates the mat- 
ter as it is. As the story goes, God had asked 
Gideon to save Israel by his hand, but Gideon was 
not fully satisfied ; . he wanted a test. He did not ask 
God to speak right out, but he said: 

"If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast 
said, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor ; and 
if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon 
all the earth beside, then shall I know thou wilt save 
Israel by mine hand as thou hast said." Judges vi:30." 

What a slow process this was to get a communi- 
cation from God! Why did not Gideon demand 
of God to speak out 'i 

The test, however, seems to have been so satis- 
factory that they concluded to test the test by try- 
ing it again and seeing if it will work the other way. 
The record continues: 

"And it was so; for he rose up e arly on the morrow, 
and thrust the fleece together and wringed the dew out 
of the fleece a bowl full of water. And Gideon said un- 
to God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I 
will speak but this once; let me prove, I pray thee, but 
this once with the fleece; let it be dry only upon the 
fleece, and upon all, the ground let there be dew. And 
God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece 
only and there was dew upon all the ground." Verses 
38-40. . 

What a field for ridicule here! Think of a God 
and a general of a great army spending forty-eight 



36 THE MEDIUMS HIP OF THE BIBLE 

hours in this ridiculous way of getting a commu- 
nication. How long would modern anti-Spiritual- 
ists endure anything so silly? But it is in the 
Bible. 

This whole history is quite as ridiculous as the 
above. When they went out to fight, the Lord is 
represented as saying to Gideon: 

"The people that are with thee are too many for me 
to give the Midianites into their hands." 

It is surely something new to see an army too 
large; but the fact is, they were to fight as medi- 
ums, and everything depended on their development 
— not upon numbers, so Gideon makes the procla- 
mation : 

"Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and 
depart early from Mount Gilead." 

On this announcement twenty-two thousand 
turned back leaving an army of only ten thousand. 
The army was still too large and the record says: 

"And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet 
too many; bring them down unto the water and I will 
try them for thee there, * * * everyone that lap- 
peth of the water with his tongne as a dog lappeth, 
him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that 
boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the num- 
ber of them that lapped were three hundred men. 
But all of the rest of the people bowed down upon their 
knee s to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, 
By the three hundred that lapped will I save you, and 
deliver the Midianites into thine hand; and let all _ the 
other people go every man unto his place." Judges 
vii:4-8. 



AND OF TO-DAY. 37 

Looking at this in the light that most opposers 
look at Spiritualism it is a supremely ridiculous 
affair; but when it is understood that this Lord, or 
God who said these things to Gideon was a depart- 
ed human spirit, and that this battle was to be 
fought by mediums, under the direction of Gideon, 
a medium, all is plain. Three hundred of the best 
developed out of a panel of over thirty-two thou- 
sand were selected. A test was applied. The spir- 
it who spoke to Gideon said, "I will try them for 
thee." 

No one can read the history of the battle and 
believe the story at all without believing the vic- 
tory was won by the spirit- world, not by soldiers. 
The fact is, neither Gideon nor one of his three 
hundred men were armed. The language to Gid- 
eon was, u For I have delivered it into thine hand." 

The wonderful dream given the mediumistic 
soldier was from the spirit- world, and the record 
says: 

• "And the Lord set every man's [Midianite's] sword 
against his fellow even throughout all the host." 
Verse 22. 

CONDITIONS OF ENTERING THE CABINET. 

The Bible is very particular in laying down 
just who may and who may not enter into the cab- 
inet, and exactly the condition upon which those 
who went into the cabinet were allowed to enter. 



38 . THE MEDtUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

None but the high priest was allowed to enter; 
he must wash his flesh and change all his clothing 
before he entered the holy of holies, or cabinet. 
This cabinet must be kept dark only when lighted 
with the glory of Grod — that is, spirit light. All 
this was done to keep bad magnetisms out lest the 
conditions for good manifestations should be spoiled. 
Lev. xvi 2-4, says: 

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron 
thy brother, that he come not at all times into the ho- 
ly place within the vail, before the mercy seat, which is 
upon the ark; that he die not; for I will appear in the 
cloud in the mercy seat. * * * He shall put on 
the holy linen coat and shall have linen breeches upon 
his flesh, and he shall be girded with a linen girdle, 
and with a linen mitre shall he be attired. These are 
the holy garments therefore shall he wash his flesh in 
water and so put them on." 

COMING OF CHRIST. 

Now that I have shown what is meant by the 
term Christ, that it is mediumship ; and that spir- 
it manifestations of the Bible were, in every re- 
spect, the same, and performed under the same con r 
ditions as those of to-day, it remains that I briefly 

explain the coming of Christ. 

If I have been right thus far in my expositions, 

the coming of Christ does not refer to the personal 

advent of some person, but to the presence of a 

power. The word "coming'' generally signifies 

"presence," or "manifestation." There are several 

words used in the Greek Testament, which are so 



AND OF TO-DAY. 39 

rendered into English as to make some who have 
not studied much on the matter, believe in the 
personal, that is, the bodily return of the man of 
Nazareth. No idea could be more wild or far- 
fetched. One of the words used in this connection 
is the word parousia, and signifies not, "coming," 
but presence. 

It would require more space than I have at 
command to refer to every place where this word 
occurs in the Greek 'Testament. It is generally 
wrongfully rendered "coming." It occurs several 
times in Matt, xxiv, and is always rendered "com- 
ing." In verse 3, the disciples are, by our rendering, 
made to ask, "What shall be the sign of thy 00m- 
m^randof the end of the world?" What they 
really did ask was: "What shall be the sign of thy 
presence and of the end of the age?" 

Modern Adventism has interpreted the text to 
signify "What shall be the sign that your coming is 
not very far in the future?" The fact is, they 
wanted to know the sign of the presence of this 
power, known as mediumship. 

In 1 Cor. xv:25, Paul says, "Those that are 
Christs at his coming." The word rendered at, 
in that instance is the Greek word en, and should 
be rendered in: the word rendered coming is the 
word pa?*ousia, and should be rendered, not "com- 
ing," but presence. The two renderings would be, 



40 THE MEDIUMSHIF OF THE BIBLE 

u Those of the anointed in the presence." The 
word parousia is rendered presence in a few 
places. In 2 Cor. x:10, his bodily presence is 
weak." In that instance, it would not do to say? 
"his bodily coming is weak.*' 
In Phil. ii:12, Paul says: 

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed 
not as in my presence [parousia] only, but now much 
more in my absence \apousia~\< work out your own sal- 
vation with fear and trembling." 

It would make rather bad work to render the 
word parousia coming, or the word apousia going 
away in that instance. 

In 2 Pet. i :16, Peter speaks of the power and 
coming of our Lord. If you would read what 
Peter said instead of what the translators made 
him say, read as follows : 

"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, 
when we made known unto you the power and presence 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his 
majesty." 

Another word used a few times and generally 
applied to a literal physical advent of the man Je- 
sus, is the word erkomia. It is the word the magi 
used when they said, "We are come to worship 
him — that is, we are here to worship him. Paul 
uses it when he says, "I will come to visions and 
revelations." The same word is used in describ- 
ing the one "which is, which was and which is to 
come." "The great day of his wrath is come" 



AND OF TO-DAY. 41 

etc. These are they which came out of great trib- 
ulation. The term signifies the approach of an 
event rather than the walking or riding of an in- 
dividual to meet you at some particular spot. 
"Thy kingdom come." "The comforter — the spir- 
it of the truth shall come" refer to the same. 

The remaining word is emphanizo, and means 
literally manifestation or appearance. In John 
xiv:21,22, the word occurs twice and is properly 
rendered manifest in both instances. These verses 
contain Jesus' promise, "I will manifest myself 
unto him," and Judas' question, "How wilt thou 
manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?" 
The same word is sometimes rendered appear, as 
in Heb. ix:24, "Where Christ is to appear in the 
presence of God for us." It is sometimes rendered 
showed. In Acts xxiii:22, "Thou hast showed 
these things to me." 

The only remaining word to be considered is 
phonero, which means appear, manifest. The 
word occurs in Jno. xxi:l, "After these things 
Jesus showed himself alive again." 

The word is rendered manifest sometimes. In 
Rom. xvi:26, Paul says, "But now is made manifest 
and by the scriptures of the prophets." 

The same word occurs in Col. iii:4 Paul, says: 

"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then 
shall we appear with him in glory." 



42 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

In 1 John ii:28, it is again rendered appear 
There the writer says : 

"And now little children, abide in him, that when he 
shall appear we may have confidence and not be 
ashamed before him at his coming." 

The word is rendered appear and manifested in 
the following: 

"Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth 
not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that 
when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we 
shall see him as he is." 1 Jno. iii:3. 

Yerse 5, says: 

"And ye know he was manifested to take away our 
sins." 

Yerse 8, says: 

"The son of God was manifested that he might de- 
stroy the works of the devil." 

COMING OF CHRIST AND SPIRITUALISM. 

Jude says: 

"Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his 
saints. Yerse 14 

From this some infer that this power, here 
called "the Lord," is coming with somebody. Not 
so; the word rendered with signifies^; the word 
rendered saint signifies one sanctified, or set apart 
to a certain work. This power once came in Jesus 
of Nazareth enabling him to preach the gospel, 
heal the sick and do many other good things. To- 
day the same power is manifested through ten 



AND OF TO-DAY. 43 

thousand who have been sanctified or set apart to 
this special work. 

When John sent word to Jesus, to know wheth- 
er he was the anointed, Jesus did not send back 
word that he was; he only told John's disciples to 
go back and tell John the things they saw and 
heard. See Matt. xi:3-5. 

That was enough! To-day these same things are 
being done by thousands proving that this power 
has come "in ten thousand of his saints.". 

SEE THE ANALOGY. 

Has the reader ever thought of the analogy be- 
tween the coming of Christ in the person of Jesus 
and the things now being accomplished in Mod- 
ern Spiritualism? 

1. The people were looking for the Messiah 
when Jesus was on earth. So Spiritualism came 
just at the time people were looking more than 
ever before for a Messiah. It came when Miller- 
ism," so-called, was at its height. In fact, the 
first positively known to be intelligent communi- 
cation was given in the family of John D. Fox, on 
the night of March 31, 1848, at the very hour the 
Adventist's "midnight cry" had ended and many 
of them had gone out to meet their Lord. 

2. "He came to his own and his own received 
him not." 



44 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

This was no more true of the Christ power mani. 
fested through Jesus than of the same power in 
Spiritualism. The very last people to receive the 
truths of Spiritualism were those who were look- 
ing for their Messiah. As Jesus did not come 
with pomp and glory and was therefore rejected^ 
so Spiritualism coming in so humble a manner as it 
did was rejected by the very people who should 
have been benefited by it. 

3. They said he had a devil, he cast out devils- 
by Beelzebub the prince of devils, etc., etc. 

That is exactly what this same class of people, as 
universally as they acknowledged the manifesta- 
tions at all, said. They argued that the power 
was from an evil source, thus proving that Jesus 
was right again when he said: 

"If they have called the master of the house Beelze- 
bub how much more shall they call them of his house- 
hold?" 

4. Jesus and his mission were rejected by the 
churches ; he found his friends among those whom 
the world rejected. 

It was church-members who said: "We are 
Moses' disciples; as for this fellow, we know not 
whence he is." It was the church that brought 
every accusation against him, accusing him of din- 
ing with sinners, and of blasphemy. He said to 
the most popular church-members, "Publicans and 



AND OF TO-DAY. 45 

harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before yon." 
To-day the majority of those who receive this 
second Christ are outside the church, and are accused 
by the church of being just the class that Jesus 
said would go into the kingdom before the church- 
members. 

This analogy might be carried farther, but this 
is enough. Every spiritually enlightened person 
can see that it is perfect as far as I have gone. 

It now remains that I notice a few of the most 
formidable 

OBJECTIONS 

to the leading positions taken in the foregoing. 

One objector said to me: "But when Christ 
comes he comes in the clouds of heaven. Spirit- 
ualism did not thus come to the world." 

I replied, "Yes, the Bible says he shall come in 
clouds, but by the term clouds, is not always meant 
the vapors in the atmosphere; there are clouds of 
dust, clouds of smoke and clouds of people. The 
JBiblealso speaks of "a great cloud of witnesses." 
Heb. xii:l. 

When the Christ came before, he came in one — 
Jesus; the next time he comes in "ten thousand of 
his saints." This both Isaiah and Paul would call 
< J acloud." Is. ix:8. Heb. xii.l. 

"Ah," said my friend, "but clouds mean clouds. 



46 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE 

When the Bible says he will come with or in. the 
clouds of heaven, 1 must believe it." 

I replied: "Do horses mean horses? The Bible 
says Christ shall come riding on a gray horse." 
He declared he had not noticed the text. 1 turned 
and read: 

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; 
and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, 
and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were 
many crowns ; and he had a name written, that no man 
knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vest- 
ure dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word 
of God. And the armies which were in heaven fol- 
lowed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, 
white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp 
sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he 
shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the 
wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name 
written. KING OF KINGS, AND LOKD OF LORDS. 
Rev. xix:ll-16 

Who, from reading this, expects to see all heav- 
en corning to earth on white horses? Who be- 
lieves that a sword is actually to be issued Out of 
the mouth of the Lord of lords and the Ki ng of 
kings? This is enough to illustrate the fact that it 
is possible to be too literal in our interpretation of 
the Bible. 

"But," said this minister, "When Christ comes, 
death shall lose its sting, the grave its victory; the 
dead shall be raised, and there shall be no more 
death. These things have not yet come to pass. 



AND OF TO-DAY. 47 

I have not seen my dead mother; the grave still 
holds her, and death is still using his sting." 

To all this I reply, death has lost his sting and 
the grave its victory over those who have recog- 
nized the truths of this new dispensation. So far 
as others are concerned, he never will lose his sting. 
Death does not sting those he takes with him; it 
is those left behind who are stung. Now when 
Spiritualism brings their dead back to them ; wlien 
they see and talk with them, they know they are 
not dead. Death has lost his sting.- When they 
talk with their friends then they know they are not 
in the grave; then, and not until .then, does the 
grave lose its victory. - 

Spiritualism brings, in reality, the kingdom of 
heaven; that is, "the reign of the heavens." The 
children of the kingdom are even now in the king- 
dom ; others are in outer darkness where there is 
"weeping and gnashing of teeth." 

Death never loses its sting, nor the grave its vic- 
tory in the estimation of those who are in "outer 
darkness." There is "wailing and gnashing of 
teeth." Those born into this light — received into 
this kingdom — receive their dead friends who are 
no longer dead to them ; they now see that instead 
of dying, they have risen to a newer and better life. 

To-day, except to those who walk in darkness, 
there is no more death. To-day all tears ar6 wiped 



48 THE MEDIUMSHIP OF THE BIBLE. 

away. There can be "no more sorrow nor crying." 
Those who reach the altitude to which Spiritual- 
ism is capable of bringing them, will be elevated 
beyond sickness. Health will come to such, not as 
an especial gift or reward, but it comes as a result 
of the spiritually elevated position they occupy. 

A spiritual influx will come to statesmen; and 
they will, as a result, be more spiritual in their leg- 
islation. Without this world, especially those in 
"outer darkness," knowing it an inspiration will 
move those in power to make more just and equit- 
able laws. Gradually the old will give way before 
the new, and* heaven will be found upon earth. 

Readers, may you and I assist in bringing about 
this state of things. 



THE CHRIST; 



WHO AND WHAT IS IT? 



OR, SOME OF THE 



Spiritualism and Mediumship of the Bible 
Compared With That of To-day. 



AUTHOB OF "THE QUESTION SETTLED," "THE CONTRAST BETWEEN 

EVANGELICALISM AND SPIBITUALISM," "WHICH, SPIRITUALISM OR 

CHBISTTANITY? " "YOUR ANSWER OR YOUR LIFE," "THE 

IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT, OB THE BATTLE BETWEEN 

RICH ROBBEBS AND POOR PRODUCERS," "THE 

DECAY OF INSTITUTIONS," AND OTHER 

WORKS ON SPIRITUALISM AND 

GENERAL REFORM. 



What think ye of Christ '"-JESUS. 



CHICAGO: 

MOSES HULL & CO., 
675 West Lake St., 
1889. 



New TlioLiglit. 

A VIGOROUS, EIGHT-PAGE WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO 

SPIRITUALISM 

And General Religious and Political Reform. 
Published every Saturday 

By MOSES HULL AND CO. 

at 675 West Lake Street, Chicago, 111., 



A RECOGNIZED ORGAN OF WESTERN SPIRITUALISM. 



NEW THOUGHT is not afraid to speak its opinions on any sub- 
ject, and is always willing to give a reasonable hearing to the oppo- 
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and General Reform; and neatly printed on good pope v. 

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. 

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pecial attention to a few of their own books. 

Wayside Jottings. A. neatly printed book, of Mattie E. Hull's 
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and sent on receipt of the price, $1.00. 

Your Answer or Your Life. By Moses Hull. A book of one 
hundred pages showing the dangers that threaten our American Civ- 
ilization. Everybody should read it. Price, 25 cents. 

The Irrepressirle Conflict; or, The Battle Between Rich Rob- 
bers and Poor Producers. By Moses Hull. One of the most concise 
statements of the issue between Capital and Labor yet made. 52 pp. 
Price, 15 cents. 

A Brief Sketch of James Godwin Anderson, witb likeness, 
together with a Funeral Oration, by Moses Hull. The best state- 
ment yet made of the Spiritualistic view of Death and the After-Life. 
38 pages. Price, 10 cents. 

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